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Video: David Harvey -- `The animated crisis of capitalism'

On April 26, 2010, Marxist geographer professor David Harvey
spoke to the the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures and
Commerce (RSA) to
explain how capitalism came to dominate the world and why it resulted in
the current financial crisis. He asks: is it time to look beyond
capitalism towards a
new social order? Above is the animated version of the longer speech he gave. You can view the original speech HERE.

Taking a long view of the current
crisis, Harvey exposes the follies of the international
financial system, looking closely at the nature of capitalism, how it
works and why sometimes it doesn’t.

Examining the cycles of boom
and bust in the world’s housing and stock markets, and the vast flows
of money that surge round the world daily, David Harvey shows that
periodic episodes of meltdown are not only inevitable in the capitalist
system but, in fact, are essential to its survival. Harvey argues that
the essence of capitalism is its amorality and lawlessness and to talk
of a regulated, ethical capitalism is to make a fundamental error.

Can
crises of the current sort be contained within the constraints of
capitalism? Or is it time to make the case for a social order that would
allow us to live within a different type of system -- one that really
could be responsible, just and humane?

David Harvey,
a distinguished professor in the Graduate Centre of City University of
New York and is the author of numerous books, including The Enigma of Capital, David Harvey (Profile Books, 2010) -- Buy now.